Tiny species of Great Ape lived in Germany 11M years ago

Tiny species of Great Ape lived in Germany 11M years ago
by Robert Schreiber
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jun 10, 2024

Ancient apes in Germany co-existed by partitioning resources in their environment, according to a study published June 7, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Madelaine Bohme of Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen, Germany, and David R. Begun of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues.

The Hammerschmiede fossil site in Bavaria, Germany, is best known for remains of the ancient great ape Danuvius dating to the late Miocene Epoch, 11.6 million years ago. Experts contest the strength of the evidence supporting whether Danuvius is a hominid or a new genus. No Miocene sites in Europe are known to have more than one species of fossil ape, and Hammerschmiede has been no exception until now. In this study, Bohme and colleagues identify a second species of great ape from the same stratigraphic layer as Danuvius.

This new ape is represented by partial remains of two teeth and one patella whose size and shape are distinct from Danuvius and all other known apes. The authors name this new species Buronius manfredschmidi. Based on the structure of the teeth and patella, the authors infer that Buronius was an adept climber which ate a diet of soft foods such as leaves. From the size of the fossils, the authors estimate a full body size of around 10kg, making Buronius the smallest known great ape.

These features suggest that Buronius had a distinct lifestyle from Danuvius, which is a larger-bodied species with a diet of tougher foods. These differences likely allowed these two species to share a habitat without competing for resources, similar to modern gibbons and orangutans which share habitats in Borneo and Sumatra. This is the first known example of a European Miocene fossil site with multiple ancient ape species, though the authors suggest that re-examination of other similar sites might uncover more examples of this cohabiting behavior.

The authors add: "The new great ape from Hammerschmiede, Buronius manfredschmidi, is with about 10 kg body weight not only the smallest known crown ape, he attested the first case of hominid syntopy for Europe. The leaf-eating Buronius shared the habitat with the omnivorous bipedal ape Danuvius guggenmosi."

Research Report:Buronius manfredschmidi - A new small hominid from the early late Miocene of Hammerschmiede (Bavaria, Germany)